This website is for Private Investors* only

*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:

Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;

Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;

Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;

Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;

Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;

Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.

Banking

Energy Producers

Engineering

Mining

Economy

Market Report

Companies

Currencies

Japanese economy slides into recession

Ebruary 22, 2020 - Tokyo, Japan: Many foreigners and Japanese visit Harajyuku, Fashion town, wearing masks for protection from coronavirus. Japan has almost 850 confirmed coronavirus cases, 691 of which are passengers and crew from the virus-strickenHITOSHI KATANODA

Japan’s economy has slid into recession for the first time since 2015, government data showed on Monday.

According to preliminary estimates from the Cabinet Office, the world’s third-biggest economy after the US and China shrank at an annual pace of 3.4% in the first three months of 2020.

Quarter-on-quarter, it declined by 0.9%. That was an improvement on the 1.2% decline economists had forecast, but was still the second consecutive quarter of contraction, after a 6.4% fall in the last three months of 2019, placing Japan technically in recession.

Japan was already struggling to adjust to an increase in sales tax, to 10% from 8%, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the country. Although it has not gone into a full, national lockdown, it has declared a state of emergency. The economy is also heavily reliant on exports, but global demand has slumped because of Covid-19.

The government has announced a $1 trillion stimulus package, but most economists believe the worst is yet to come.

Freya Beamish, chief Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “The report confirms that the fiscal stimulus announced in December has yet to impact GDP, with government consumption barely rising again, while public investment fell 0.4%, after the fourth-quarter’s 0.5% rise. Government support should kick in during the current quarter, although GDP will still drop by at least 3% nonetheless. Policymakers and markets are fully aware that the worst is yet to come.”

Lee Hardman, currency analyst at Japanese bank MUFG, said: “The [quarter-on-quarter] contraction was a little less than expected but it offers little relief. Weakness was widespread in the first quarters.

“Private consumption contracted for the second consecutive quarter by 0.7%, following the 2.9% plunge in the fourth quarter in response to the sales tax hike. It was driven by the sharpest quarterly fall in services consumption since the Cabinet Office began publishing the data back in 1994.

“Like in all other major economies, an even deeper contraction in economic activity is expected to slow in the second quarter before Japan’s economy begins to recover during the second half of this year.”